


The Hoodie

by artikgato



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Getting Together, Homesickness, M/M, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 16:01:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15319077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artikgato/pseuds/artikgato
Summary: Before long he’d unpacked all but the box of clothes, and was in the process of pulling that one open. He stopped short, staring at the contents in confusion. Instead of the crisp black of the Yasogami uniform that Souji had thought would be greeting him, there was a rumpled lump of light blue fabric on top, which was revealed to be a very familiar hoodie when he pulled it out of the box by one sleeve. It was Yosuke’s hoodie, the one he’d been wearing when he’d helped Souji pack up his room, in fact. But how had it gotten into the box? Hadn’t Yosuke noticed it was missing? Or...had he left it on purpose, maybe?





	The Hoodie

**Author's Note:**

> The hoodie in question: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/a/ab/P4D_Yosuke_Hanamura_School_Uniform_Midwinter_change_free_DLC.png

Souji stared at the small pile of boxes with a sigh. He knew he was just delaying the inevitable, honestly, because once he unpacked the boxes, he’d feel like he was really “home”. Well, in the sense that this was where he was living now, but Souji knew that he would always feel like Inaba was his real “home” now. It had been a week after he’d gotten on the train that took him away from Inaba - away from his friends and Nanako and Dojima-san - and he knew it was very uncharacteristic of him to not have unpacked, certainly by now, but…

Well, he didn’t want to.

He didn’t want to admit that he was really back here, in this house, at this school, and not where he belonged in Inaba. He’d seen his parents a total of two times since his return: once when he arrived at the train station, and once since then for dinner. This was their house and this is where they supposedly lived, but they were so busy with their jobs that they hadn’t been around.

Honestly. Why had they bothered making him come back for his final year of school? Why not just let him stay in Inaba and finish his third year there? Dojima hadn’t exactly been the definition of a stellar parental figure, but at least he’d been  _ there _ . 

But Souji couldn’t  _ really _ complain. The fridge was always stocked, and his old school was  _ fine _ , honestly...he shouldn’t hold the fact that it  _ wasn’t Yasogami _ against it. 

He’d unpacked as little as possible so far, only taking out necessary things, but his parents could come home any time and see his room in such a state, and the last thing he needed was them thinking that he’d gotten ‘lazy’ in Inaba or something. So, he was spending his Sunday unpacking his room. Or at least he was supposed to be, but so far all he’d managed to do was eat breakfast and stare at the small pile of boxes. 

He pulled a box off of the top of the stack, resigned, and opened it up to start unpacking. He’d actually accumulated a lot more during his stay in Inaba than he’d originally thought...it had taken him by surprise, when he was packing up his room with Yosuke’s help. One entire box had been filled with a bunch of knick knacks and baubles and other memorabilia he’d gotten during the year in Inaba, either as gifts from his friends or ones he’d picked up himself. He had some very nice, very empty shelves in a corner of his room, and at the very least he knew he could fill them up with those. He honestly couldn’t remember what had been on the shelves before he’d moved to Inaba...probably pictures and books and things.

Front and center, he put up three framed pictures. Well, four actually, but one he was specifically hiding behind the others - he didn’t need any questions from his parents about why he was wearing braids and a skirt, after all, as it was a picture of himself, Yosuke, Kanji and Teddie in their culture festival outfits. It was hiding behind a much larger framed picture, taken at the shrine on New Year’s Day, of the whole Investigation Team. To the left of that picture was a smaller one of himself and Dojima crouching, with Nanako between them, a huge smile on her face. The fourth and final picture was the most recent, and it still wasn’t in a frame yet: the picture that had been taken at the train station, shortly before Souji left Inaba.

He took a little longer than he probably should have admiring the four pictures, before turning back to the box and reaching in for the next item that would surely have memories attached to it. 

Roughly half an hour later, he’d filled the shelves with many memories of Inaba. There were four of the model robots that he’d constructed during the year, a small collection of the various books he’d bought, and even a couple of origami cranes that had survived the trip. There was also a Jack Frost doll sitting nearby - Souji  _ still _ wasn’t sure why there was a stuffed animal version of one of his Personas, but he wasn’t going to question it.

One shelf was taken up entirely by all the gifts his friends had given him, all lined up in a row, along with a small box that contained stubs from all the movies he’d gone to see with them. 

Souji got up and stretched, taking the now empty box with him to the kitchen, where he made himself a cup of tea. One box down, and four to go. He knew one would have his winter clothes and Yasogami uniforms, so he decided to save that one for last. As he unpacked the other three boxes, he kept finding his vision trailing back over to the shelf, lingering on the wristband Chie had given him, or watching the way the light glinted off of the silver bangle he’d gotten from Rise, admiring the intricate stitching on the cute little plushie of Izanagi that Kanji had knitted him, watching the hands move on the watch he’d gotten from Naoto…

Eventually, as he worked his way through another box, he unpacked his little CD player alarm clock. Maybe some music would help him focus on unpacking... even if the music was going to remind him of Yosuke. Nodding, he got up and made his way over to the shelf, picking up the CD that Yosuke had burned for him, just a little over a week ago, and took it out of the case, putting it in the CD player and hitting ‘play’. 

The bouncy American pop and rock music  _ did _ help him concentrate, actually, and before long he’d unpacked all but the box of clothes, and was in the process of pulling that one open. 

He stopped short, staring at the contents in confusion. Instead of the crisp black of the Yasogami uniform that Souji had  _ thought _ would be greeting him, there was a rumpled lump of light blue fabric on top, which was revealed to be a very familiar hoodie when he pulled it out of the box by one sleeve. It was Yosuke’s hoodie, the one he’d been wearing when he’d helped Souji pack up his room, in fact. But how had it gotten into the box? Hadn’t Yosuke noticed it was missing? Or...had he left it on purpose, maybe? Well, there was only one way to know for sure.

 

>I have your blue hoodie...did you leave it in one of my boxes on purpose?

 

To Souji’s surprise, Yosuke responded almost immediately.

 

>>o thats where it went, was wondrng

>>no wasnt on purpose

 

Souji laughed, shaking his head. How had neither of them noticed the hoodie when they closed the box up? Well, Souji had been a little bit preoccupied, trying to stay as optimistic as possible to keep Yosuke’s mood up, so that he’d keep Souji’s mood up in turn… it had been a deeply weird afternoon with Yosuke, with both of them fully aware of the fact that Souji was leaving but trying desperately to not talk about it. It had been especially hard to let Yosuke leave, because there was so much Souji had wanted to tell him, but...well, it was better that he hadn’t. They might be separated by hundreds of miles now, but at least they were still  _ friends _ . If he’d confessed to Yosuke that day, he was sure Yosuke would have taken it badly, and who knew if he’d have shown up to see Souji off the next day?

 

>Want me to mail it to you?

>>Nah gonna b summer soon dont need it

>>U keep it 2 remember me lol

>But I already have the CD you burned for me

>I’m listening to it right now, by the way

>>OMG, u miss me that much prtnr?

>Of course

 

Souji had wanted to say much, much more than just that, but that was all he allowed himself to send, in the end. He turned back to the box and busied himself with emptying the rest of it, hanging up sweaters and jackets and coats in his closet and, after a small internal debate, the Yasogami uniforms. There was absolutely no need for him to hang them up, as he’d never have a logical reason to ever wear them again, but they were occupying the same space in his brain as the scarf he’d gotten from Chie for Christmas, the little blue stuffed bear Teddie had given him, the detective’s badge Naoto had given him when they’d finally tracked down the “Phantom Thief” in Inaba…

 

He found his phone blinking with a new notification, a response from Yosuke. Several, in fact.

 

>>miss u 2

>>inaba sux w/o u prtnr

 

And then, a few minutes later according to the timestamp:

 

>>wait, r u just now unpacking???

 

He let out a melancholy little sigh.

 

>Yes, I just finished in fact

 

>>whoa, thats not lik u

>>u alrite?

 

Nobody gave Yosuke enough credit: he might have been prone to saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, but he was very observant when he wanted to be, and he was scarily good at reading Souji’s mood... even through text apparently.

Souji spent the next few minutes typing a response, then deleting it, and repeating the process, before he gave a frustrated huff and instead sent

 

>It’s complicated, can I call you?

 

He was still somehow surprised when his phone rang in his hands.

“Sup, Partner!” Yosuke greeted, and Souji abruptly realized that, though they’d been texting all week - he’d been texting  _ everyone _ back in Inaba all week - this was the first time he’d heard Yosuke’s voice since he’d gotten on the train to leave Inaba.

It took a little more restraint than Souji would have liked for him not to tear up.

“Yosuke,” he greeted in response, and he was pretty proud of the fact that the word came out sounding steady and even. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Yosuke replied, with a sigh. “Well, Chie made me treat her to steak a couple days ago, and Teddie tagged along, so I’m broke right now, but other than that I’m good. You?”

“I’m...adjusting,” Souji replied, carefully. “It’s so different here.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Yosuke replied. “Y’know, I spent a long time wishing I could go back to the city after I moved out here, but now I don’t envy you at all.” He chuckled, and Souji laughed. “It’s seriously not the same without you here, man. I’ve been hanging out with the others, but we all agree that it’s not the same as hanging out with you…”

“Yeah…” Souji replied.

“So anyway, why’d you want to call? You said it’s complicated?” Yosuke asked. Souji gave a little sigh, but he told Yosuke about how he’d been putting unpacking off for so long, about not wanting to unpack everything because it made the move feel real, and permanent. 

“You probably think I’m pretty weird, now…” Souji added, after finishing his explanation, and Yosuke laughed.

“I  _ know _ you’re weird, Souji,” Yosuke corrected. “That’s what I like about you. But I was like that too, y’know, it took me  _ months _ to finish unpacking after I moved out here from the city.” Souji barely heard his explanation, though, because he’d heard him not only use his  _ name _ instead of the term ‘Partner’, but also say that his weirdness what was he  _ liked _ about him. He felt a blush creep up on his cheeks.

“Hey, Partner, you still there?” Yosuke asked, and Souji abruptly realized he hadn’t said anything in a little while.

“I’m here,” he answered, trying to ignore the heat in his cheeks. “Uh...you like that I’m weird?”

“Well, yeah,” Yosuke replied, with a chuckle. “You wouldn’t be  _ you _ if you weren’t weird.”

“Thanks,” Souji replied.

“I can hear the CD I burned for you in the background, by the way. I guess you weren’t kidding about that earlier,” Yosuke remarked.

“I really do miss you,” Souji sighed into the phone. He felt his cheeks get hotter, and scrambled to add, “All of you.”

“Yeah, we all miss you too,” Yosuke replied. “I mean, if I get lonely I can always go hang out with one of the others, but you...well, knowing you, you’ve already made new friends, right Mr. Popular?”

Souji gave a sarcastic, humorless laugh in response.

“I didn’t know what true friendship was even like before I met you,” he confessed. “Everyone here is nice, but…”

“I know what you mean,” Yosuke said, after a moment. His voice sounded weird, a little more...gruff than usual, maybe? “It’s like...I don’t know. We all went through so much together, and nobody outside our group can even begin to understand.”

“Exactly,” Souji replied. He hesitated for a second, and then just plowed on ahead with the conversation. “Hey, thanks for talking with me like this. I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear from someone back in Inaba. From you, especially.”

“N-no problem, Partner. Any time!” Yosuke replied and, if Souji wasn’t hearing things, he sounded a little nervous...or maybe taken aback by the sudden, almost uncharacteristic emotional vulnerability Souji was allowing himself to express? 

“Ah, sorry if that was weird…” he apologized.

“Like I  _ said _ ,” Yosuke said, sounding fondly exasperated, “I like that you’re weird, man. You wouldn’t be Souji Seta if you didn’t like to go fishing, or stop to pet every stray cat, or didn’t build plastic robots in your spare time like a nerd, or-”

“Okay, okay, I get it!” Souji protested, with a laugh. “I just didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, Mr. ‘Hugging is for girls’.”

“Well if I wasn’t uncomfortable before now...” Yosuke joked. “But seriously, Partner. You can call me any time. I might not always be able to answer, but I  _ always _ want to hear from you.”

“Same to you,” Souji replied, touched by the declaration. He heard Yosuke sigh.

“To be honest, I’ve actually been wanting to call you all week, but I just didn’t want to seem...I don’t know, clingy? I mean, you haven’t been gone  _ that _ long, but...well, you were always around, before. It’s been weird not to be able to just, like, call you to hang out, or pass notes in class, or show up at Dojima-san’s door and barge in on you.”

“Yeah…” Souji agreed. He looked around with a sigh. His room here was nothing like the spare room at Dojima-san’s house in Inaba. It looked...way less inviting, to him at least. He spotted Yosuke’s hoodie, laying on his coffee table, and got an idea. “Hey, I’ll keep the hoodie if you insist, but at least let me mail you one of my jackets as a replacement.”

“Dude, really, it’s fine!” Yosuke laughed in response. “Winter is  _ months _ away, and I have plenty of other hoodies.”

“I insist,” Souji pressed, “It’ll be something to remember me by. And besides, aren’t we supposed to be equals?”

“Ugh, twist my arm why don’t you,” Yosuke complained. “Fine, fine, send one over then.”

“I will,” Souji promised. “And you’d better wear it when it gets cold.”

“Of course I will,” Yosuke replied. Then he seemed to realize what he’d said, because he coughed and added, “I mean, I-I’ll think about it. If you send me one that looks good on me.”

“You look good in everything,” Souji replied, and it was only when he heard the choking noise Yosuke made in response that he realized just what he’d said. Well, it was too late to take back.

“Th-thanks? But, uh, I mean, you saw me at the culture festival, dude, I don’t look good in  _ everything _ ,” he protested.

“You looked cute in that,” Souji insisted. He was really pushing his luck here, but, honestly, teasing Yosuke was a lot of fun. He could picture the way Yosuke was probably blushing and frowning at the phone as he made another surprised choking noise.

“I looked  _ dumb _ in that getup!” Yosuke protested. “We all did! Ugh, that contest was such a mess…”

“I don’t know, I kind of liked wearing the skirt. It was very...freeing,” Souji replied, and Yosuke let out a long, long sigh.

“You say the strangest things, you know that, right?” he asked.

“But you still like how weird I am,” Souji reminded him.

“I like you  _ even though _ you’re weird,” Yosuke corrected. Souji felt himself go breathless at hearing Yosuke say ‘I like you’, felt his cheeks heat up again. He held his breath, waiting to see if Yosuke was going to correct himself, or even realized what he said. It took him a few seconds, but he did. “Uh, I-I didn’t mean…! I didn’t mean ‘I like you’ like in a...a dating way or anything, I just meant...ugh, you know what I meant, right?” 

Souji held his breath in for a few more seconds.

“I know what you meant,” he reassured, and heard Yosuke let out a relieved sigh in response. Then, he very carefully, very deliberately, continued. “But I wouldn’t have minded it if you  _ had _ meant it in the other way.”

Yosuke was silent for a long time. Long enough that Souji started to worry that he’d finally managed to scare him off. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Yosuke chose that moment to start speaking again.

“Souji, I…” Yosuke choked out.

“Sorry, Yosuke” he apologized. “I was just teasing, and I guess I got a little carried way…”

“Like hell you were teasing,” Yosuke accused. “Look, I…” he stopped, with a sigh. “When I said it  _ before _ I didn’t mean it like that, but I...it’s true that I do like you. A lot. I...I like you a lot. In the dating way.”

To say that Souji was shocked was...an understatement. Wide eyed and blushing, he sat down heavily on the floor, because his legs were suddenly shaking too much to hold himself up.

“I just didn’t wanna tell you like this, on the phone,” Yosuke continued. “I wanted to tell you in person...I’ve been wanting to tell you in person for a while now, but I just couldn’t and...ugh, damn it, this  _ so _ isn’t going how I wanted it to.”

“That’s fine,” Souji managed to croak out through his uncooperative throat. He had to clear his throat to continue. “This isn’t how I wanted to tell you either. I...honestly, I never planned  _ to _ tell you, because I never thought I’d ever be so lucky that you’d feel the same way.”

“Yeah,” Yosuke sighed. “So...uh...wh...what do we do now?”

“I don’t know,” Souji admitted. 

“Are...are you sure you like  _ me _ ?” Yosuke asked, the end of his sentence coming out as more of a squeak than a question. “I-I mean, you know any of the girls would have gone out with you in a heartbeat, right?”

“But they aren’t you,” Souji answered, his voice soft. “And yes, I’m sure. I like you, Yosuke.”

“Uh,” Yosuke replied, sounding winded. “S-sorry, just had to sit down after hearing you say that.”

“I did too, don’t worry,” Souji reassured him, and Yosuke laughed. 

“Damn,” he said, still laughing. “This is a huge mess, huh?”

“I wouldn’t expect any less from us,” Souji said.

“I…” Yosuke sighed. “I wish I’d said something sooner. While you were still in Inaba.”

“I wish I hadn’t had to leave Inaba,” Souji replied. “I don’t understand why I  _ did _ , I mean, my parents haven’t been around at all, and Dojima-san told them repeatedly that he was happy to let me stay for another year.” He sighed in frustration.

“It’s just our luck though, right?” Yosuke asked, sounding bitter. “We go through hell together, save the world together, and don’t find out about our feelings until  _ after _ we’re hundreds of miles away from each-other.”

“It’s only a couple of hours by train,” Souji pointed out. “And it’s not like I’m never coming back. I’m definitely coming back for Golden Week and summer vacation.”

“But I don’t  _ want _ to wait until Golden Week to see you again!” Yosuke whined. “Now that I...know how you feel…”

“We can talk like this, every day,” Souji replied. “It might be good to talk like this for a while, actually, so we can figure out what exactly we want from each-other.”

“I-” Yosuke started, but cut himself off, with a sigh. “Yeah. Knowing me, I’d rush head-first into stuff without thinking, and, honestly, you mean way too much to me. I don’t want to screw this up.”

“I feel the same,” Souji replied. “And, you know, this is my first relationship.”

“R-really? You...even before Inaba, you didn’t date anyone?” Yosuke asked, curious.

“I didn’t. I just thought it would have been too much of a bother, to get to know someone that well, when my parents could just move me somewhere without warning. It wasn’t worth it to me until I met you.”

“Partner,” Yosuke groaned, and Souji could practically  _ hear _ him blushing. “That’s...so cheesy.”

“ _ I’m _ cheesy,” Souji replied, grinning. “Get used to it.”

“This will be my first relationship too,” Yosuke admitted. “I... I always kind of felt this sort of...destiny. With you.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean,” Souji replied. 

“Hey, Partner?” Yosuke asked.

“Yes?” Souji replied.

“C-can you tell me one more time? That, y’know, that you like me?” he asked, sounding incredibly embarrassed. Souji smiled.

“You tell me first,” he countered.

“Oh, c’mon!” Yosuke protested. He heard him grumbling on the other side of the phone, and then clearing his throat. “Fine, I… I like you, Souji.”

Oh. Yosuke calling him by his name was going to be a  _ Problem _ .

“I like you too, Yosuke,” he replied, and he heard Yosuke exhale a breath.

“Man, I hope I never get used to hearing you say that,” he replied, shakily.

“I’ll say it as often as you want me to, but only if you say it too,” Souji replied.

“Deal,” Yosuke replied. Then, in a teasing tone, “I like you.”

“I like you too...Partner,” he replied, equally teasing, and he heard Yosuke suck in a breath on the other side of the phone. Maybe him using ‘Partner’ on Yosuke was going to be a  _ Problem _ for him. He filed that information away for later.

“A-anyway,” Yosuke stuttered. “I should let you go, you still have unpacking to do, right?”

“I had just finished when you called,” Souji replied, smoothly. 

“Uh, w-well...I mean, as much as I want to, we can’t sit around talking all day, right?” he asked, and Souji sighed.

“Unfortunately,” he agreed. “I have homework, and I’m sure you do to. We can talk again tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Yosuke replied. “After school?”

“After school,” Souji confirmed. “And I’ll pick out a good jacket to send you.”

“You better,” Yosuke replied, a smile in his voice. “Have a good day, Partner.”

“You too, Yosuke,” he answered, and with that they both ended the call. Souji let himself fall back onto the floor with a long, deep, happy sigh. He just stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, shocked and happy and absolutely, totally in love. After a while he decided he really did need to get up and do homework, but when he sat up he noticed the hoodie still laying on his bed.

And he got an  _ Idea _ .

With a smirk, he got up and made his way over to the bed, grabbing the hoodie and slipping it on. It fit him pretty well, of course, and as he zipped it up he noticed that it still smelled like Yosuke, even after a week of sitting in the box with the rest of his clothes. He was a little embarrassed to admit that he definitely liked the smell. 

It took him a few tries to get the angle and lighting right, since selfies were definitely more Yosuke’s forte, but he eventually got one that he liked and sent it to Yosuke, along with a simple “<3” as his message.

A moment later, he heard his phone ding, and proceeded to get four texts, in a row, from Yosuke.

 

>>adjkldfsaj;lkdsafd;lkj

>>hOLY SHIT

>>PARTNER

>>you

 

And Yosuke was still typing, apparently. He waited, patiently, until another text came through.

 

>>you look so hot in my clothes

 

Souji felt his entire face turn red, but a pleased feeling settled into his stomach as he typed a response.

 

>Thanks. I’ll have to wear this more often.

>>u better. colors look good on u

>I wear colors

>>black & white & gray arent colors souji

>Rude!

>>;P

>>srsly tho warn me b4 u send me another pic lik that again man

>>i wasnt prepared

>No guarantees! ;)

**Author's Note:**

> As always, you can come yell with or at me about Persona on my tumblr: artikgato.tumblr.com


End file.
